Not Everyone Is Out To Screw You Over
by clarabranson
Summary: One day following an awful argument with Severus Snape which her son witnesses, Clara Branson storms out of the potions classroom. Severus has a horrible accident in the potions classroom with an exploding potion, which produces harsh black smoke that suffocates his lungs. Clara revives Severus and perhaps their rocky relationship. Severus SnapexOC oneshot OOC Severus Snape


Severus stood in front of a room full of third year Slytherins and Gryffindors. His head was pounding. He had already managed to break up three potential duels and take twenty points from Gryffindor. Whatever possessed the students this year was certainly evil in nature. He hadn't seen so many mishaps and explosions in all his years of teaching. He sat at his desk as the students chopped white willow bark for a headache potion and rubbed his own temples. Perhaps one of those dunderheads would get the formula right and he could relieve the pain in his head and neck immediately.

A scuttering noise in the back of the room caught his attention. Looking up, he saw the top of a small head bounce across the back of classroom. It was almost immediately followed by Clara, who was trying to duck out of sight, but having a hard time because of her girth.

"Noah!" Her hiss echoed throughout the dungeon. "Get back here."

There was an assortment of snickers from the Slytherin side of the room. The boy stopped and Clara picked him up, hurrying from the room. Severus stood and cleared his throat loudly. The class snapped back to attention.

"And what is the next ingredient for the common headache potion?"

A girl in the front row raised her hand. Choosing his usual pattern of ignoring the know-it-alls, he called on the boy sitting next to her.

"Mr. Rush, I suppose you can answer that for me. What do you add after the white willow bark?"

"Umm…" the boy stuttered.

"You don't know?" The boy shook his head nervously.

"That is when you add the essence of dragon's blood, you stupid boy."

"But Professor, won't that destabilize the potion if you don't add the powdered lily first?"

Severus's eyes flew in the direction of the doorway, where Clara still stood, holding Noah.

"Miss Branson," he said smoothly, although inside his rage was thoroughly building, "would you mind taking a seat and waiting for the end of class? I have matters I need to discuss with you."

Clara raised an eyebrow and chewed her bottom lip, she obviously realized that she should not have spoken.

"You've all done enough for the day!" he snapped at the students. "Out! Everyone out!"

Quickly, the students from both houses gathered their things and ran from the classroom, stunned by the Potion Master's sudden outburst. As soon as the classroom was empty, he stalked angrily toward Clara. He could feel his face turning white with fury.

"Don't you EVER correct me in front of a class again!" Clara stepped backward and Noah buried his face in her shoulder, whimpering.

"I'm s-sorry, Severus," she said, slowly backing out of the classroom. "I just didn't want you to have an accident."

"What goes on in my classroom is none of your concern! Do you understand that? You have no right to undermine my authority in this room!"

Clara clutched Noah tightly and ran from the room. As soon as she disappeared, Severus picked up the nearest jar of dried beetles and flung it at the wall, glass smashing everywhere. The damn woman had been right and most of the students probably knew it. He had been too distracted by his headache to realize that he skipped a step. The results would have been disastrous.

Slumping down at his desk, he heard footsteps approaching. He buried his head in his arms, letting the darkness relieve some of the tightness in his eyes. There was a loud thumping noise followed by a crash and a woman's surprised voice yelling, "Oh!"

"Hello, Tonks," he said without looking up. She hopped up on his desk and put a hand on the back of his neck.

"What happened in here?"

"I was lucky enough to be on the receiving end of some enlightenment from our illustrious Miss Branson."

"Clara made this mess?"

"No, I did."

"What happened?"

"I don't wish to talk about it."

"Right, then. I heard you saw Remus."

"Yes."

"He was glad to see you at least make the effort."

"Yes, well, I figured it would stop your infernal pestering."

"You know what they say; you do what you're good at."

"Mmm."

"What's really bothering you?" she asked, absentmindedly playing with his hair. He still did not look up.

"I am far too old for this job, Tonks."

"Nonsense, McGonagall is old enough to be your grandmother!"

"Not old in years, old in my mind."

"So you're giving up? After all of the work you've done for the Order, your years spying against Voldemort, after all of that you're giving up because of a bunch of teenagers?"

No answer. Tonks continued to speak.

"I hear Clara moved in next door."

"She did."

"And how are you…adjusting to the presence of little people in your lonely corner of the castle?"

"As a matter of fact, I find Miss Branson's daughter to be far less irritating than her mother."

"Really? Severus, what exactly did Clara do that has you so wound up?"

"She corrected me."

"In front of your class?"

"Yes."

"Ahhh. Now it makes sense. The great Potions Master once again corrected by the brightest student to ever walk these halls. Humbling experience, wasn't it?"

"You may leave now, Tonks."

"As you wish. I just wanted to thank you for making Remus's day. He seems much happier now that he's seen you."

When she was gone, Severus stood and walked to a cauldron in the front of the room. Carefully ladling a little of the mixture, he examined it for consistency and color. As it seemed to be to his standards, he began chopping the rest of the willow bark and added it to the potion. His headache was so bad by now that he could hardly see straight. Grumbling angrily as he relived the humiliation of being corrected in front of his students by the library assistant, he reached across the table for the essence of dragon's blood, leaving the powdered lily to sit in its dish.

The explosion was almost silent but powerful. Within seconds, the cauldron shattered into pieces that flew across the room, one catching Severus directly on the forehead. He staggered back a few steps, coughing as the classroom filled with thick, black smoke. He tried to reach for his wand, but his head began to spin and the last thing he saw was the top of the table in front of him as he dropped to it. The smoke continued to envelope the room until it had squeezed out every remaining bit of air.

By the time Clara finished calming Noah down after Severus's tantrum, Marka was bouncing off the walls. She had been begging to go outside for well over an hour before Noah snuck out of the room and down the hall.

"Fine," Clara snapped. "Find your shoes and we'll go outside."

"Thank you, thank you, thank you!" yelled Marka as she ran to her bedroom. Seconds later she was back, with one purple sneaker and one saddle shoe.

"Close enough," sighed Clara, slipping them on her daughter's tiny feet. "Alright, are you ready Noah?" He nodded excitedly. "Let's go. Shall we walk by the lake?"

The first thing she noticed as they entered the hallway was a peculiar smell. Clara frowned slightly, but continued walking, hoping that Severus had already returned to his quarters and would not pass them in the hall. As she neared the Potions classroom, she saw a steady stream of black smoke crawling along the ceiling.

"Stay here," she whispered to the children. Drawing her wand, she slowly approached the open door.

She could see nothing inside but a heavy layer of blackness. With two quick flashes of her wand, the smoke parted down the center of the room and revealed Severus slumped over a table.

"No!" She knew exactly what had happened and the suffocating effects the botched potion would have produced. Running into the classroom, she grabbed his wrist, finding a faint pulse. He wasn't breathing. "Mobilicorpus!" she commanded and the Potions Master's body obediently levitated and followed her from the room.

Lowering him to the floor in the hall, she pushed a few strands of slippery hair from his face before beginning muggle-style resuscitation.

"Mommy? Is Presser Snape okay?"

She didn't answer the girl's question, instead remaining focused on the task at hand. After a few attempts, he produced a choking cough and Clara sat back on her heels.

"Severus, can you hear me?"

He groaned and squeezed his eyes tightly, as if the light in the hallway was painful.

"Alright, I'm going to take you to the hospital wing. Just relax, you'll be fine."

Noah and Marka hopped along beside them, occasionally darting beneath Severus's body as if he was a limbo stick. When they reached the infirmary, they dashed through the doors, Marka loudly announcing their entrance.

"Madame Po'frey! Presser Snape got hurt! Mommy floated him here!"

"Oh my goodness! What happened?" Poppy appeared from behind a screen.

"There was an accident in the Potions classroom," Clara said calmly. "It looks like he took a blow to the head. There was a lot of smoke; he wasn't breathing for some time."

Poppy helped lower him to the bed, checking his vital signs and scanning his body with her wand.

"I'll have him right as rain in no time. Thank you for bringing him up, Clara."

"Not at all," she said, taking one more backward glance at the unconscious man before hurrying the children out the door.

"Mommy! I thought we were going outside!" Marka whined as Clara headed away from the doors leading out of Hogwarts.

"We are sweetie. I just need to stop at the library first."

Opening the large doors, she found her intuition was correct; Natalie was sitting at a table in the center of the room with a stack of books in front of her.

"Natalie?"

"Oh! Hello, Clara."

"Hello dear. I know this is terribly short notice, but Professor Snape needs my help in his classroom and the children very much want to play outside."

"That would be no bother at all. It is getting terribly stuffy in here and it's such a nice day. I could use some fresh air myself."

"Thank you so much, Natalie. I really appreciate it."

"Mommy?" Marka grabbed her sleeve as she was about to leave. "Is Presser Snape gonna die like Daddy did?"

The words struck Clara in the heart. A four year-old should not have to worry about losing the people she cares about, not like this.

"No, honey," she said quietly, "Madame Pomfrey says he'll be just fine." She walked them to the main doors silently, playing Marka's words over in her mind and feeling an icy chill each time.

Once the children were settled and outside, Clara returned to the Potions classroom. She quickly dispatched the remaining smoke and set about picking up the shards of glass and cauldron that littered the floor. Shaking her head, she lifted the still-full dish of powdered lily from the table. She wondered if he had done it on purpose, to prove her wrong.

'No,' she thought, 'He knows far too much for that. Still, it's not like Severus to make such a basic mistake.'

Once the classroom was clean and secured, she headed back to the hospital wing to see if he was awake yet. Although she didn't want to say so in front of Marka, the bruise on his head was quite nasty and it had her slightly concerned. Inside the infirmary, she found him sitting in the bed, his arms folded tightly across his chest like a small, stubborn child.

"You're awake!" she announced, rather obviously.

"I am quite well."

"I – Marka was worried." She looked down, slightly embarrassed that her enthusiasm had been met with such a cold response.

He seemed to relax a little. "You can tell her I am fine."

"How is your head?" she asked softly, approaching his bed.

"Much better," he replied, bringing a slender hand up to rub the bruise.

Feeling brave, she sat on the end of his bed and smirked as he raised an eyebrow, as if challenging her. She scooted a few inches closer.

"You almost killed yourself, you know."

"And wouldn't that have been a pity."

"How can you say that?" She was suddenly overcome with emotion at the thought that someone could take life and death so lightly. After all she had seen in the last eight years, losing the three people closest to her, how could anyone place so little value on life?

"Clara," his voice was soft and patient, something she had never heard from him before, "the people you have lost…that have been taken from you, led lives very different from mine. I doubt I would be missed at all had you not found me in the classroom."

"Marka would have been devastated," she said, looking him squarely in the eye. She stood from the bed. "And you would have been missed."

As she approached the door, she heard her name.

"Clara." His voice reverted to its usual cold silkiness. She turned to face him, his eyes staring back at her without expression. "Thank you, for saving my life."

She closed her eyes and smiled, exhaling a small breath of amusement through her nose. "You are very welcome, Severus."

Leaving the hospital wing, she set off to find Natalie and her children.


End file.
